‘Dear diary, I’ve had a very busy afternoon. I sliced my way through huge falling fruit with samurai swords, saved a village from a hoard of marauding orcs with my archery skills, and conquered a fear of heights I never knew I had.’ (We’ll come to back to that last one.)
DNA Manchester opened on Brown Street in March. Despite its large windows and signage, it looks inconspicuous from the front. You might have even walked past it without knowing it was there. The ‘no-frills’ reception area looks like an ‘any town’ community leisure with some neon and no clue as to the mind-bending adventures that await.
The original ‘virtual reality arcade’ opened in a small basement in Camden in July 2017. Venues in Hammersmith and Battersea Power Station followed in 2020, with successful partnerships with the likes of Vertigo Games, KOBOX and Thursday offering even more games and experiences. Since inception, the social and active experience has won several awards and has a celebrity following. Now it was our turn.
There’s a series of rooms for groups of four as well as a free roaming room where larger groups can move around a virtual escape room as a team. It has the capacity to host up to 16 virtual sessions (19 people) at one time if you are planning an office do with a difference.
I’d brought my two teenagers – their generation is much more au fait with leisure tech. I can keep Tetris going for hours, enjoy a spot of Wii Bowling at Christmas, and need therapy for my addiction to Candy Crush, but VR is all new to me. Fortunately, newbies are welcomed without judgement and a staff member stays with your group throughout the visit to answer questions and keep you grounded in the real world.
Holly was our guide and she led us into a room divided into four by low walls, to separate each player. She fitted us with our own VR headset and went through the simple controls on the handsets, so you know how to pick things up, point and shoot, or change game. Headphones allow you to hear and interact with your teammates. Holly is also watching on screens so she can see what everyone is looking at and interject with advice if you need it.
You’re now plugged into a virtual world with a 360-degree display. A thin blue grid appears if you’ve veered too near a wall, so you can’t do yourself an injury. The ‘virtual lobby’ is a futuristic cityscape with a large board displaying around 70 games ranging from easy to more advanced. Point and a laser like beam will appear. Press and away you go.
Beginner games start from familiar iPad favourites such as Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja (for ages 7+), and you can even beam yourself around like a virtual yellow Pegman on Google Street view. Play as an individual or in a group working through the clues in a series of virtual escape rooms or defend yourselves from any number of baddies. Virtual worlds are set everywhere from nuclear reactors to jungles, ancient temples, and magical wonderlands. Your body may be stood in the middle of an ordinary room in a rainy city centre, but you’re off saving the world.
Your controllers take on the appearance of whatever you need to play the game; gloved hands, rocket powered launchers, neon colour coded balls or samurai swords. When you’re plugged into The Matrix, it all makes perfect sense, I promise.
We decided to start playing solo games to get used to the controls. My 15 year old son chose Job Simulator where he could play havoc in an office, but that sounded too much like real life to me. I clicked onto Synth Rider, a rhythm game where you keep to the beat. It was great fun and surprisingly energetic but I had to stop when the other players started laughing at my heavy breathing.
I decided to move onto Plank, a balance game. I found myself in a lift and pressed the top button. The lift moved, the door opened, and my heart lurched. In front of me was a short plank. All I had to do was simply edge a few steps forward and look down over the city. Except I couldn’t. I was rooted to the floor by a fear of heights I never knew existed.
My stomach was in knots. I knew I was really in a room with a flat floor, but the terror was as real as it would be if I was stood on the roof on The Beetham Tower being told by the Devil I could fly. I found myself having a bizarre inner argument. ‘IS THIS WHY YOU NEVER TAKE RISKS ANY MORE EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO BE OK?’ I imagined people who might spend their entire allotted hour rooted to the spot. Not me. I had adventures waiting and only 42 minutes left on the clock. I got over myself, conquered my fear and…to find out what happens next you’ll have to book in for yourself.
You can tell a lot from a person as to how they react when put into certain circumstances and VR brings out all of that. Will they trample over you to save themselves? Are they a team player able to make decisions? Are they overly aggressive under pressure, or are they kind? I can see VR being a very effective job interview format.
Safe to say, our hour went quickly, and we were absolutely buzzing when we came out – much to the bemusement of the next batch of newbies waiting in the reception area. Just be careful when crossing the road. You don’t get another life when you’re not in the virtual world.
Prices start from £22pp for an hour with off-peak prices available mid-week. Check the DNA VR Manchester website for prices and availability.
Core, 30 Brown Street, Manchester, M2 1DH
Tel: 020 3475 8083
